A Walk Around the Halls
by ilovedango
Summary: The circumstances are perfect for Draco Malfoy to finally make a move on the bushy haired witch. With Voldemort defeated, his father sent to prison, and her two best friends off hunting escaped Death Eaters, Draco devised a plan to give him and Hermione some alone time. The question is though, is it enough to overcome the years of hatred and animosity between the two?
1. Chapter 1

"Sorry Hermione but come now, a deal's a deal. I'm sure you Gryffindor folk understand that eh?"

Hermione never quite liked Ernie McMillan in the first place seeing as he was one of her academic competitors but now she could just rip that bloody head off his shoulders and feed it to a hipogriff.

"No, no, no! I agreed to switch shifts for a month because Parkinson was the only choice left! You told me you were patrolling with Hannah you liar! Not Draco Malfoy!" Hermione's eyes fumed with a fiery rage that would burn holes through anyone unfortunate enough to meet its gaze.

"I wasn't lying though, at that time Hannah was my partner but Malfoy asked to switch with her and she accepted. I couldn't do anything 'bout what she does, can I?" He tried to reason.

Hermione was never one to get mad. No, never. She believed that everything, even the most ridiculous of misunderstandings, could be solved with civil and logical conversation. However, her calm and collected front always flies out the window whenever the idiot ferret was concerned. Every single time they cross paths was an opportunity for him to ruin her day, amazingly enough he's never missed a single opportunity yet. Oh just the thought of being alone with him for a month...

'_No! I refuse to accept this! I'm Head Girl for Merlin's sake_.' She rubbed her head in frustration

"Well, then I revoke my offer!" Hermione crossed her arms and raised her chin "I'd rather be stuck with Parkinson than with that slimy little git."

"But I can't Hermione! Class schedules have been finalized! I've worked out my N.E.W.T. study groups with the Ravenclaw review club! I can't reschedule anymore, they're all full." Ernie's eyes looked for some understanding. They were both very academically concerned students, although Ernie didn't quite match Hermione's natural intellect, he made up for it with a lot of hard work which was something the witch highly respected.

Hermione sighed in resignation. What kind of Head Girl would she be if she didn't know how to understand her subordinates? Besides it was her fault anyway, Head Boy and Head Girl were supposed to work on making the schedules together. Instead, she'd gone off and left Blaise to finalize everything while she went on a vacation with her parents, whose memories of her were just recently restored.

"Fine. You win this one Ernie." She dropped her arms to her side. "One month alright? That's it."

"Thanks a lot Hermione! I knew you'd understand." Ernie, overcome with satisfaction and glee came in for an unexpected, and rather awkward, hug.

"Oh! Um.." Hermione blushed. Its not that she fancied Ernie at all, it was just her general inexperience with the slightest intimate acts with the opposite sex, besides Ron and Harry of course.

"Well, well. When did this interesting little development start, Granger?" A cold familiar voice said. "I'm sure Weasely and Potter would be devastated."

Hermione and Ernie turned abruptly to see a tall, blonde boy leaning on the wall, staring at them intently with a god-awful smirk on his face.

"What is it now, Malfoy." Hermione turned to face the boy with her previous hostility back in full swing.

He merely scoffed at her and turned his attention to McMillan. "Fancy Gryffindors eh? I wonder what poor Hannah Abbot would think when I tell her that her boyfriend had gone off snogging the Head Girl-"

"We weren't doing anything! Hermione's my friend and I love Hannah!" Ernie argued "Stop meddling in other people's business Malfoy. Unless you want me to tell-"

Draco's pale face turned bright red almost instantly. What Ernie was threatening him with must be something very personal, for the usually emotionless Draco to react that way.

Malfoy took a step forward in front of McMillan, emphasizing how much taller he was than the Hufflepuff.

"I'd be careful with that if I were you." He threatened while looking down on the smaller, weaker boy.

'Tell what? What on earth is going on here?' Hermione wondered.

Draco looked like he was ready to pounce; Hermione knew she had to stop this now.

"Stop this! Both of you!" Hermione shouted as she pushed the two boys away from each other.

"As Head Girl it is within my power to dismiss prefects who show less than appropriate behavior for a student of their rank." She said in her usual, matter-of-fact tone. "Now, would both of you please head back to your dormitories, curfew is in less than an hour."

Malfoy stared at her with his cold, silvery eyes for a good five seconds before pointing a threatening finger at McMillan and walking away.

The pair watched the retreating figure, making sure he doesn't do anything funny on his way.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked, still looking at the direction Malfoy left.

"What was what all about?"

"That thing you said that got Malfoy in a twist." Hermione turned to him, expecting an answer.

Ernie shifted his gaze, obviously hoping that she didn't catch that part of their conversation.

"I-it's nothing. Nothing to concern yourself about." He said in hurried hushed tone.

Before Hermione could insist, McMillan bid goodnight headed to his dormitories leaving her curious and slightly confused.

'_Oh well, might as well head back too._' She took one last look around the corridors, reminded every student she came across to head back to their respective dorms before finally retreating back to her own.

**%%%%%**

'_You bloody idiot! Blast that slimy McMillan for getting his filthy hands all over her!_' Draco reprimanded himself as he angrily stomped his way down the dungeons, frightening the poor lower year Slytherins he came across.

"Bugger! Bloody little, filthy, good for nothing. ARGH!"

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on there mate." A dark, elegant looking boy put his hand on Draco's shoulders stopping him from continuing his little 'hate parade' across the halls.

"It's nothing, Blaise." Draco coldly answered while looking the other way.

Blaise let out a short, low laugh. He knew his friend too well; they have been together for almost all their lives.

He was _definitely_ jealous.

"Why? Was your marvelous plan not executed to your liking?" Blaise teased.

"Tsh. Don't be ridiculous, Blaise. Of course my plan worked. It worked perfectly as a matter of fact." Draco proudly exclaimed with a slight smirk on his face.

"Then what the devil is the matter? You were stomping like an angry giant on your way down. The first years were proper terrified." His friend scolded.

"Who stuck a stick up your arse? You and I used to love terrifying first years."

Draco teased his friend, Blaise had matured throughout the years and it was for Draco's own good too. He needed at least one good influence in his messed up life. Now that Voldemort's gone and his father in Azkaban, the Malfoy family estate, properties and businesses will all be transferred to him on the date of his graduation from Hogwarts.

"Hey, hey! Stop changing the subject." Blaise made a friendly tap on his cheek to get his head back on the issue.

"That slimy little Hufflepuff McMillian had his hands all over her! And Granger didn't back away!" Draco said as if it was the most absurd thing in the world.

"Oh please. You're overreacting, mate. I'm pretty sure it was all friendly."

Draco huffed, frustrated that his friend didn't see the absurdity of what he was trying to convey.

"Even so, how do you explain her not pushing the damn git off huh?" his voice croaked at the last syllable.

"She was probably just being polite! You know how prudish that woman is. I don't even think she's had any yet"

Draco's mind drifted at a line of thought involving Hermione Granger and her virginity.

'_She probably hasn't yet eh? A kiss, I'm sure that big oaf Krum already sneaked a sloppy one. And if he didn't I'm pretty sure Weasely's at least given it a shot. … I wonder how her lips feel like….. or what it feels like to touch her…._'

Draco's hands subconsciously cupped two invisible mounds in front of his chest which prompted his friend to snap him out of his day dream.

"OW!"

"Snap out of it you pervert" Blaise said after smacking his blushing friend right at the nape. "Don't think that I don't know what's going on in that head of yours. Merlin, you really have it bad for her don't you?"

"Shut up, Blaise."

His friend merely laughed, both amused and proud that his friend is finally showing some signs of maturing, even just a little bit.

"Alright enough of this, I'm heading back to the dorms." Draco yawned. It was an exhausting day after all.

Blaise gave him a small nod before going on his way.

With his friend gone, his mind once again wandered and found itself thinking about the bushy haired witch. He'd been interested in her for quite some time now. Of course given his immaturity and his father's idiotic ideologies, his younger self mistook this attraction as blind hatred that he fully regrets now that more sense has been knocked into him.

'_Right, I've got a month to fix this up and possibly, even get her to like me._' Draco thought carefully of him and Hermione's current relationship.

"_You big stupid ferret!" _

"_Leave me alone, Malfoy!"_

"_You vile, loathsome, evil little cockroach!"_

"_WHAM" _

'_This is not going to be easy…._'

A.N. : So I've made a previous prompt and decided that it was too boring for me to continue. This will now be my "official?" first fanfic! Yay! So what do you guys think? Should I continue? Is it too boring? Tell me what you think!

~Angie


	2. Chapter 2

The first Hogsmede weekend of the year is always the most chaotic. Third years get extra rowdy due the excitement causing the journey to Hogsmede a lot more difficult to control, and on the way back they get even rowdier due to the extra sugar in their system from an unsupervised shopping spree in Honeydukes.

Head Boy and Head Girl were always assigned to handle the third years during this time of year but for some twist of fate, Blaise was currently indisposed. To put the cherry on top of Hermione's fantastic day, he'd chosen Malfoy to sub for him,_ just great_.

_Where is that little git anyway…_

"Alright everyone! Settle down, settle down! We'll be boarding the carriages in a while so if you would please fall in two NEAT lines and- HEY! Stop it!."

_Chaos. Absolute chaos._

Students pushing each other as if trying to all fit in a small, invisible, vertical tube. Somewhere in between the chaotic bundle of adolescents, two boys took it upon themselves to start a pushing fight between Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"Hey! You two, stop it right no—AH!" the rowdy crowd pushed Hermione off balance causing her to trip on a protruding root and landing on something warm and firm.

_Ow. Godric help me with these kids…_

"You alright, Granger?" the warm, firm object she was clutching on spoke.

Jumping to her feet upon realizing that the object was no object at all but a tall blonde boy by the name of Draco Malfoy.

Brushing off her cloak as if dusting off the remnants of their sudden physical contact, she gained her composure and addressed the boy in front of her.

"Yes, I'm very well as a matter of fact. Just splendid as you can see." She replied with sarcasm.

"Bloody hell, Granger. It's a fucking circus in here." Draco remarked, looking around at the marvelous display of pre-teens fighting for a spot in the line.

"Yes I know alright! Where on earth were you?" She'd been alone on this for almost half an hour! Her hair, which was never very tamed in the first place, looked extra wild due to the stress of mothering over a hundred pubescent kids.

"I had to go talk to Blaise." He briefly explained before the growing Slytherin vs. Gryffindor push fight caught his eye somewhere behind the line.

"Come on Granger." He said as he casually held her at the back of her waist guiding her to the direction of the small fight.

The sudden, unexpected contact made Hermione's body jolt up and her face to burn hot. Malfoy had never, not once touched her before, not even by accident. She felt his surprisingly warm hands at the small of her back, touching her delicately with just the slightest bit of authority.

"Oi! You lot over there." Malfoy called out before stepping a few inches closer to where the rumble was. His strong, authoritative voice immediately caught the attention of the students causing them to abruptly pause and hide what they were doing.

Upon reaching the group of boys he bent down to look at them with a scowl.

_I may not agree with his methods but he sure does know how to get across to them…_ Hermione observed. Draco was being so…_authoritative_. Almost commanding, she almost found it quite sexy…

_Oh god Hermione! _She just caught herself thinking of Malfoy as _sexy_.

'_Well he kind of is, to be honest_. _He wouldn't have that many girls fawning over him if he wasn't….' _the annoyingly honest voice inside of her head pointed out. She hated to admit it but she had a bit of a crush on the boy during their first year, which was of course before he called her a Mudblood…

She feels nothing but animosity for the young Slytherin now. Years of bullying and name-calling made any relationship that was remotely civil exist between the two.

_But weren't you two just having a decent conversation just a while ago?_ That annoying voice again! God, why did she always have to have a logical side to her thoughts? Can't I just hate him blindly?

"Granger?" He called out, ushering her out of her train of thought.

"Uhm, yes Malfoy?" she asked calmly pushing all those previous thoughts to the back of her head.

"Would you mind joining me here for a second." Motioning to the spot beside him that faced the now silenced group of boys with their heads bowed slightly down.

_How on earth did he get them to do that?!_

Getting closer to the spot Malfoy asked her to stand, he once again guided her by the small of her back.

"Do you know who she is?" he sternly asked the group of boys.

"H-hermione Granger, sir? Our h-head g-girl." One trembling little boy answered with his head still bent down.

"That's right, boy. And being Head Girl, you should be following her right?"

The boys all nodded. Hermione noticed the sudden calmness in the air and looked around to see that the rest of the third years have noticed the scene and gone quiet.

"But the lot of you weren't. She's having a bit of headache now in fact and that's not your job to give her, its mine." He said with smirk, almost sounding possessive.

"Hey!" Hermione tried to argue but he continued his speech.

"Now I want all of you to apologize to her and fall into a neat line….at the very back." A few quiet groans escaped the group of boys but a stern look from Malfoy snapped them back into stiff little soldiers.

"W-we're sorry Miss Granger. We won't do it again." The boys answered in a chorus.

Hermione only managed a nod in response, she was totally speechless. She's been with them for over half an hour and it was as if she didn't make a sound at all! All her commands, all her shouting was all landing on deaf ears. And here comes Malfoy in his cocky glory and they all stand in attention! He even got them to apologize!

"Now for the rest of you," Draco said in a louder voice. "She said fall into two straight lines, anyone I see out of place will be immediately sent back to their dorms and will stay there until the end of the Hogsmede visit. Do it now and be quiet about it!"

The energetic and rowdy third years transformed themselves into a battalion of well-mannered soldiers in a matter of ten seconds.

"Malfoy…." She called, still looking at the students neatly arranging themselves in disbelief.

"Yes, Granger? Were you going to ask something or do you just enjoy saying my name?" he teased with that infernal smirk on his face.

God she hated it when he became cocky like that. _He's praising himself for his display of authority just now. What a prick._

She rolled her eyes and hit him with a backhand at the shoulder.

"Ow! What on earth was that for?!"

"For being a proud little git, that's what" she spitefully replied. He might have made an impressive display a while ago but its going to take more than that to gain her respect and admiration.

"_A little git?!_ I just saved you from that mess!" he argued, _Gosh why did Granger have to have such high standards?! That was down right impressive what I did there!_

"…..Fine. Thanks." Hermione said with reluctance. Her arms were crossed and she was trying her best to look anywhere else but in his general direction.

_God this is embarrassing. I wonder what Harry and Ron would think if they found out I'd let Malfoy save me…_

He stared at her with a mix of surprise, disbelief and a tinge of happiness in his eyes. Hermione turned slightly to see why he was being so quiet and their eyes met for a fraction of a second.

"What!" she demanded, always hating it when there was something she wasn't getting.

"Oh, nothing." He shrugged and checked his expensive looking wristwatch. "Right, we better go too."

Looking straight ahead he put his right hand on her hair and ruffled it as if he'd done it everyday, and walked to the carriages. Leaving a wide-eyed witch with extra bushy hair.

Hermione raised her hand to touch the area where his hand was a moment ago wondering…

_What on earth just happened?!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks a bunch to those who reviewed! It means a lot to me, really. I'm trying to get myself into a pattern of updating but I haven't figured one out that would fit my schedule yet (and by schedule I mean my laziness). So I'll just keep updating every time I finish a chapter until I figure out a good way to get by. Can't wait to hear what you think!**

**Disclaimer: Do not own Harry Potter. This applies to all the chapters in this fic. **

The carriage ride to Hogsmede was a quiet one. Draco and Hermione, rather uncomfortably, sat by each other keeping to themselves. Other than Draco's occasional teasing smirk and Hermione's returning glare, the ride was an uneventful one.

"Here we are folks, Hogsmede village." Draco announced to the wide-eyed group of third years.

Before the students could alight and knock there heads out with all the knick knacks you get here, Hermione announced the rules.

"You may buy anything you wish and bring it back to the castle for as long as it is not part of the prohibited item list which Dra- ahem- Mr. Malfoy will give out to you later." Checking if she got everyone's attention before moving on.

"You are expected to be back here before 4pm and we leave back for Hogwarts at 4:30opm. And I must emphasize that all Hogwarts house rules will still apply; professors, prefects and heads are still capable of deducting house points."

"Oh and another thing" Draco piped in "To those boys I overheard a while ago who plan on using an aging potion to get in the Hog's Head a word of advice, it doesn't work." His lips twitched into an arrogant smirk at the restrained groans of disappointment he heard.

"And if it does work for some strange reason, I'll be there to congratulate you." He added sarcastically followed by the nervous gulps of students who already understood not to cross him.

"Stop terrifying the students, Malfoy" Hermione hissed under her breath.

Draco responded by shaking his head and giving out a low laugh. _Always the proper one, she is._

Hermione dismissed the students after Draco handed out their pamphlets and the students hurriedly made their way to whatever establishment caught their fancy.

"Any plans Granger?" Draco casually asked, a bit more hopeful than he wanted to sound.

Hermione slowly turned her head to glare at him from under her lashes. "I don't see how it's any of _your_ business Malfoy but I do, in fact, have a few errands to run. Picking up some parchment so I could write Ron and Harry this weekend, meeting Ginny and Luna at the Three Broomsticks and, oh, least I forget, _avoiding you._" She added harshly.

"Ouch, Granger." He feigned hurt by putting clutching his heart with his hand. _I was expecting this after all, no matter no matter. I have time…_

"I never pegged you as someone so cruel. I was going to invite you to patrol the Hog's Head with me after a few butterbeers, my treat to the lady of course." He finished with a wink.

Hermione's mouth fell open with disbelief. Hermione was both slightly shocked and appalled by the way her former – I mean – _still_ very much her enemy was flirting so casually with her, as if those years of name-calling and bullying never happened at all!

'_Malfoy is driving me absolutely out of my knockers today! His behavior isn't what I'm used to and I have absolutely no idea how to deal with it.'_

"I don't know what you're playing at here, Malfoy" taking one step towards the tall boy and raising a threatening figure.

No matter how petite and harmless Granger looked, Malfoy knew fully well that she packed a punch, literally. Remembering that day still made his nose twitch in pain…

Looking down at the moist spring ground Draco looked contemplative for a moment before raising his head and looking up at her.

"I'm not playing anything Granger. I've been nothing but nice to you today haven't I?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer back but found no words to support her, he was right. If it weren't for him a while ago, things would've gone into absolute… – no, she didn't even want to think of how bad it could've ended for her.

The Malfoys suffered greatly during the war, much more during the trials. Hermione most of all should know, she was there when his family was tried.

"_Mister Malfoy I suggest that you let the Aurors see your memories as they intend to, there is no other way we could possibly –"_

"_You don't understand!" the eternally regal Master Malfoy was now in nothing but filthy rags more commonly worn by house elves. "I-I cannot relive those memories any longer! I cannot!" _

_The Malfoy patriarch begged and pleaded the court while his family, Draco and his mother Narcissa, stood at a corner and pretended to put a brave face. Wands were pointed at them, but much less than the ones aimed to shoot at his father._

_Draco's face looked like it aged ten years that day. Standing beside his weeping mother, clutching at her shoulders, he looked at the man he once idolized._

'_And to think I wanted to be like him someday…' he thought to himself. _

_Oh, how things have changed. _

"_Draco darling…." His mother whispered softly, blindly searching for his hand to grasp as her eyes were too welled up to see clearly. "I will not let anything to you, my child. Never." She glanced up to meet the eye of her only beloved son._

_Draco tried his best to give his mother a reassuring smile. "I think now, it is my responsibility to take care of you, mother. As we can very well see, our 'man of the house' won't be returning for a while." He said with a bit of spite._

"_Alastor, if you would…" Kingsley motioned for moody to extract the memory and place it in the projected pensieve. _

"_NOOO! You filthy half-bloods! Filthy! All of you!" Lucius screamed in deranged pain and agony. _

_Moody, successfully extracting the memory that they needed to try the most-likely guilty Death Eater, placed it in the pensieve for every member of the jury to view and analyze._

_Hermione, Harry and Ron were all present, sitting at the back and throwing a few testimonies here and there. Harry himself pledged for Draco and his mother to be spared from trials due to their forgivable actions during the last days of the war. _

_The memory played and just as they suspected, Lucius Malfoy was indeed part of almost every raid, battle and torture as commanded by the fallen Dark Lord. What they didn't suspect, however, was his torture of his own son and wife. _

_It was very clear and very disturbing to watch, Draco Malfoy, then just entering his 5__th__ year at Hogwarts, being tortured by his father for attempting to run away knowing full well that he was to receive the Mark. Narcissa, being a mother attempted to protect his son but to no avail, she too would be subject to her husband's wrath. _

_The jury watched in silent discomfort, Narcissa shaking and Draco glancing away with his jaw set tight. _

_Draco writhed in pain, he could no longer bear to watch his mother being tortured again, even if it was just a memory. He would've shouted, called for them to stop but he couldn't make a sound. _

_Just when Draco felt he couldn't take anymore, a voice spoke out._

"_Stop this!" the young bushy haired witch stood from her seat, speaking for the first time that evening. _

"_Its bothering him, stop it!" she said with a hint of glimmer in her eyes._

_Draco looked up at her in amazement. After everything he's done, all the unforgivable, desperate, and stupid things he's done as a boy, she was right there looking out for him._

_Their eyes met for a brief moment. Even though she did not enjoy watching him and his mother being tortured, her eyes still showed that she hasn't completely forgiven him. Sitting back down, Hermione bit back her sobs. _

_Knowing full well how painful the Cruciatus is somehow made her more….sympathetic to the case of Draco and his mother. She doesn't know if she could ever forgive them completely for watching while their insane Aunt Belatrix tortured her but at least now, she understood what their circumstances were._

'_It was either watch and stay silent or die…' she thought to herself. _

_The room went silent and Moody turned off the pensieve. _

"_Very well, Miss Granger. I do believe we've seen enough…." Kingsley said from his pedestal. _

"_Alastor, if would please escort Mister Malfoy back into his cell." Kingsley commanded._

_Moody nodded firmly before aparating with two other Aurors back to Azkaban prison._

"Alright" Hermione said.

"Alright what?" Draco asked, confused as the witch was just standing there for a good long while without speaking.

Hermione took in a deep breath, she might regret this someday but something told her that it was, at the moment, the right thing to do.

"Look Malfoy. We're not friends, we never were. We hated each other's guts in fact." Hermione stated, enunciating every word to make her sentiments clear.

Draco's brow furrowed, still confused as to where this conversation is going.

'_Hey at least we're actually having a conversation, it's a start_' he thought to himself.

"But I think, given our current _situation_, we must at least try to be civil with one another." She said with her sometimes-annoying matter-of-fact voice.

"If you haven't noticed Granger that is what I'm trying to-"

"Yes I know." she quipped with a bit of frustration; it was not an easy thing to do.

Taking a deep breath before continuing, to steady her emotions that are currently all over the place she continued "What I meant was, I'm going to at least try."

Draco looked dumbfounded. "What…like try to be….friends?" he asked cautiously.

Hermione scrunched up her nose, she doesn't think friendship between them was possible anytime soon.

"Not quite friendship, we're too far from that at the moment. More like…civility?" she tried.

Draco looked at the floor in contemplation again, tapping his shoe against the small rock on the floor as he bit his lip.

'_I never realized we had the same habit_' Hermione observed, she had a bit of lip biting problem too, but for some reason she found it quite endearing on Draco; it made him seem more _vulnerable_.

'_Alright there we go again, Hermione. That's twice today now stop it. Stop looking at him for Merlin's sake.'_

"Well?" she probed, becoming impatient to hear the young wizard's reply.

Draco's head cocked up and smiled. A genuine, full smile that got Hermione confused for a good two seconds. She'd never, not once seen him smile before… She didn't even know he could.

"Alright, Granger. You've got yourself a deal." Putting out his hand, asking for a handshake to seal their deal.

Hermione eyed his hand, assessing whether this was a good idea or not, before finally taking it.

"Deal"

Hermione didn't think to remove her hand from his right away and he took this as an opportunity.

Happening too quickly for Hermione to realize what he was trying to do, he lifted their joined hands to his lips and pecked the back of her hand with a light kiss.

Hermione blushed instantly at the contact. His lips felt so warm and soft, despite his seemingly cold attitude. Gathering back her senses, she instantly pulled her hand away and punched him at the shoulder.

"Git! You little pervert!" She fumed sending out random jabs at the boy.

Draco found it all too funny. He laughed as he attempted to avoid her angry punches, although a couple did make its way to his shoulders.

"See you later, Granger!" he dashed out laughing as the witch attempted to run after him but gave up after a few steps.

'_This is definitely a start.'_


End file.
